The Evil Dead

Posted on by Jeppe Kleijngeld

Director: Sam Raimi
Written by: Sam Raimi
Cast: Bruce Campbell, Ellen Sandweiss, Richard DeManincor, Betsy Baker

Year / Country: 1981, USA
Running Time: 85 mins.

Sam Raimi’s first feature film is a low budget horror shocker that would find an enormous cult support and send its creator to the Hollywood directors A-list. It would also spawn two sequels, comic books, lots of toys, a number of videogames and even a musical.

The story is simple: five friends take a holiday to a deserted cabin in the woods. Over there, they find a morbid archaeological artifact; Necronomicon Ex Mortis, the book of the dead. They also find a tape-recorder and –stupidly– play the recordings. The professor’s voice on the tape utters spells from the book and thereby resurrects the evil spirits in the forest. These spirits quickly head towards the cabin to possess the living. Once a human is possessed, bodily dismemberment is the only way to beat the demon that inhabits the body.

The execution of this gruesome tale is nearly flawless. From a slow and suspenseful build-up to the gore-drenched ending. In the meantime it provides more scares than a truckload of other eighties horror flicks. The young cast performs well. As opposed to many modern horrors the viewer can genuinely believe that these people are terrified. Raimi also creates tension with good use of sound and dazzling camerawork. The Evil-POV shots are especially a brilliant invention. The special make-up and gore effects are impressive considering the shoestring budget.

There are also some scenes of controversy. Most notably of course the tree-rape scene. Although the envelope in horror has been pushed further over the years, this remains a shocking scene when viewed today. Bruce Campbell’s character Ash is still fairly undeveloped at this point. Something that would drastically change with the follow-up Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn.

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Biography: Sam Raimi (1959, Royal Oak, Michigan) started making 8mm films when he was around ten years old. In his teenage years he first collaborated with his good friend Bruce Campbell, who would later appear in almost all of his films. The style of Raimi is influenced by the Three Stooges, of whom he is a huge fan. By making the short movie Within the Woods he managed to raise the required funds to make his first feature; the outrageous horror flick The Evil Dead. After that he made similar films with varying commercial success. In his films Raimi displays a great talent for creating inventive visuals. Most of his movies also feature slapstick and comic book elements. In 2002 Raimi made Spiderman, his biggest film to date. It was an enormous box-office success and Raimi would go on to make two sequels. Throughout his career Raimi has also produced many films and TV-series, mostly in the horror/fantasy genre. He remains a director with a huge fan base and many exciting future prospects.

Filmography (a selection): It’s Murder! (1977, short), Within the Woods (1978, short), Clockwork (1978, short), The Evil Dead (1981), Crimewave (1985), Evil Dead II (1987),  Darkman (1990), Army of Darkness (1992), The Quick and the Dead (1995), A Simple Plan (1998), For Love of the Game (1999), The Gift (2000), Spider-Man (2002), Spider-Man 2 (2004), Spider-Man 3 (2007)

Cloverfield

Posted on by Jeppe Kleijngeld

(2008, USA)

Director: Matt Reeves
Written by: Drew Goddard
Cast: Blake Lively, Mike Vogel, Lizzy Caplan, Michael Stahl-David

Running Time: 85 mins.

The team behind TV-series Lost, Alias and Felicity brings us a cinema experience that features much of the mystery and excitement that made those series such huge TV hits.

Cloverfield has been shrouded in mystery for obvious reasons. In the short trailer we could only see some realistic-looking disaster footage. What the disaster was, remained unknown until the movie premiered last month. Word of mouth did the rest. A giant monster attacking Manhattan? The best disaster movie since…well ever? Cinema-goers rushed to see it in swarms. After all, it sucks to be clueless when everybody’s discussing this phenomenon, doesn’t it?

Smart promotion, that’s for sure. But is this really a good movie? Well let’s just say the hype is well justified. In it’s short running time it manages to provide more thrills than a whole season of Lost. There is a brief introduction where we meet a group of friends. They’re having a goodbye party for one of them and videotape the events taking place. About ten minutes later the disaster starts. Buildings start collapsing and people are running scared. The group go outside to check it out and get thrown into a whirlwind of catastrophes.

Off course, one of the group members keeps on filming all the time. Even when he and his friends are attacked in a dark subway tunnel by some small insect-looking creatures. That the supposedly amateurish footage looks so sharp and covers exactly the right material is just something we’ll have to accept. After all, we are part of the disaster and don’t have time to think. The actors are, just as in Lost, model-like pretty and sophisticated. Producer J.J. Abrams should go find himself a new casting agency. The performances are good, but at least some more ‘real’ people would help the viewer to care more about their fate than with this fashionable bunch.

The Blair Witch Project hyped a style of film-making that has since been put to good and less good use. Cloverfield is an example of how it should be done. The images and soundtrack put the viewer right into the action. With its steady-cam shots and well-hidden special effects it brilliantly succeeds in making the audience part of the disaster. We are not merely observing Tom Cruise battling aliens in War of the Worlds. We have to stay focused on the screen all the time or we’ll get crushed or eaten alive.

The metaphor for 9-11 is striking. We have heard these screams of panic, and seen images of this ash-grey destruction many times before in news coverage. Typically for the team behind this movie, there is no explanation for the events taking place. It doesn’t matter. The ending is well-timed, and makes us pray for another rollercoaster ride that is just as thrilling and involving as Cloverfield is. It won’t be easy to accomplish.

Rating:

Gone in 60 Seconds

Posted on by Jeppe Kleijngeld

Director: H.B. Halicki
Written by: H.B. Halicki
Cast: H.B. Halicki, Marion Busia, Jerry Daugirda, James McIntyre

Year / Country: 1974, USA
Running Time: 98 mins.

Stunt driver H.B. Halicki ventured into film with this independent flick that features the longest chase scene in film history. Halicki did everything himself; producing, acting, writing, directing and of course performing the many car stunts the film contains. The result is a somewhat unbalanced but nevertheless entertaining piece of popcorn cinema.

The story revolves around Maindrian Pace, a professional car thief who accepts the job to ‘collect’ 48 cars within a week. He and his colleagues start stealing cars all over L.A., but run into trouble when they attempt to nick a yellow Ford Mustang from 1973. Pace has to outrun the entire police force through several states, wreaking havoc wherever he goes.

The lack of story is compensated with car stunts galore, and Halicki knows how to pass on his passion for automobiles. Enthusiasts will revel at the sight of all great classic models on display here. Action fans will certainly enjoy the powerful stunt work, and movie fans in general might enjoy the seventies haircuts, atmosphere and music.

Still it feels a bit empty. Perhaps it’s the lack of personality of the characters, or it might be humor that is missing a bit. In any case it feels like a true ‘friends and family’ movie, which is something all cinema fans should definitely encourage. Besides, there is plenty to enjoy. The build-up is already reasonably suspenseful and once the chase starts, there is barely time to breathe. Halicki certainly deserves credit for realizing his dream and creating a one-of-a-kind movie in the process.

Rating:

Biography: H.B. Halicki (1940, New York – 1989, New York), also known as Toby and ‘The Car Crash King’ started his career in the towing business of his family. As a teenager he decided to move to California after losing two brothers. By the time he was 17, Halicki owned and operated his own body shop, while he simultaneously collected a wide range of automobiles. In 1974 Halicki made his feature debut with Gone in 60 Seconds, for which he contributed his enormous collection of cars. Several of those were damaged beyond repair during the shoot. After the film Halicki continued collecting cars, and he became owner of one of the largest private car collections in the world. In 1989 when Halicki was shooting Gone in 60 Seconds 2, he was killed when a telephone pole fell on him during a stunt.

Filmography: Gone in 60 Seconds (1974), The Junkman (1982), Deadline Auto Theft (1983)

TV Dungeon: The Sopranos

Posted on by Jeppe Kleijngeld


‘Meet Tony Soprano. If one family doesn’t kill him… the other family will.’

(1999 – 2007, USA)

6 Seasons (86 Episodes)

Creator: David Chase

Cast: James Gandolfini, Edie Falco, Lorraine Bracco, Michael Imperioli, Jamie-Lynn Sigler, Robert Iler, Dominic Chianese, Tony Sirico, Steve Van Zandt, Aida Turturro

For a period of eight blissful years, The Sopranos answered the TV-prayers of me and millions of other TV-maniacs. As a huge fan of GoodFellas, a quality series about a New Jersey mob family sounded like music to my ears. It delivered on its high expectations. No, it exceeded them by far.

Tony Soprano, family matriarch, mob boss and psychiatric patients. The perfect characteristics for a leading man of a drama show. This complex character is wonderfully portrayed by the now legendary James Gandolfini. He is a fat, bald ladykiller, He’s a murderer. You just couldn’t ask for a more captivating main character.

But it isn’t just Tony who delivers. The supporting cast is delicious as well. We all have our favorites (mine is Silvio Dante), but I give praise to all; the hilarious psycho Paulie Walnuts, shrink Melfi, money-grabbing Carmela, crazy uncle June. Too many to mention, but all marvelous indeed!

So, what gives this show its ridiculous appeal? The guns, the girls, the gabagool? I guess this I just one of those very rare productions in which everything fits in perfectly; the screenplays, the actors, the soundtrack, the look and feel…it is perfect. Brilliant even.

When talking about classic mob movies, The Godfather and GoodFellas always come up first. The Sopranos can now be added to the mix. Mind you, this isn’t some ordinary rip-off. Since the pilot episode it has stood on its own feet. It is a highly original and modern take on mobsters and the gangster genre. It placed mobsters with old values in the 21th century with all of its problems: depression, terrorism, capitalism, you name it.

For 86 episodes you are watching killers, who lack any form of empathy for their victims. Most of the time they are still a lovable bunch though. But very often the audience is reminded of who these people really are. So how does one cope with all these horrible crimes on his conscience? Being a sociopath helps, but otherwise there is therapy (Tony), the catholic church (Carmela) or drug abuse (Christopher). High concept TV at its best.

Creator David Chase, who in the past worked on shows such as Northern Exposure and The Rockford Files, has created a cultural phenomenon. The Sopranos must be viewed, loved and treasured. Seriously, you’d be a douchebag to miss it.